The South Carolina Stingrays (9-4-4-0) fell behind early and were unable to fight their way back, coming up short to the Jacksonville Icemen (6-8-1-1) by a score of 4-1 on Friday night at the North Charleston Coliseum.
Forward Nick Saracino led the charge for Jacksonville, scoring twice, while Brett Supinski netted the lone goal for SC. Goaltender Craig Pantano made 23 saves in a losing effort in his first ECHL start.
The first period saw two Jacksonville goals, first from Saracino, who scored unassisted at 11:44 to lift the Icemen to a 1-0 lead. Exactly four minutes later, Craig Martin added his third of the year, extending the Icemen lead to 2-0.
In the middle frame, Supinski found the back of the net for his fourth of the season, beating Jacksonville netminder Kyle Keyser on the far side 40 seconds into the period. Mark Cooper and Dan DeSalvo both earned assists on the only Rays goal of the evening.
Jacksonville wouldn’t wait too long to respond, as Erik Bradford netted a power play marker, his first of the year, at 8:05 to make it 3-1.
The second stanza also saw two fights, with Stingrays defenseman Cole Fraser dropping the mitts with Ian McKinnon at 12:18. 7:39 later, Jordan Klimek threw a huge open ice hit, gaining the attention of Pascal Aquin, and the two would have a scrap just before the end of the period.
Saracino decided that his night wasn’t over and added a second unassisted goal at 19:13 of the second period, giving the Icemen a 4-1 advantage just before the intermission.
Keyser finished with 27 saves, helping cement an Icemen victory. The Stingrays outshot Jacksonville by just one opportunity, 28-27. SC ended the night 0-for-1 on the man advantage, while Jacksonville went 1-for-2 on the power play.
The Rays are back in action to open a 3-game series against the Florida Everblades at the North Charleston Coliseum on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. The series continues Friday at 7:05 and concludes Saturday at 6:05 for Military Appreciation Night.—To purchase single game tickets for all Stingrays home games, click here!
Season ticket plans are on sale now! For more information or to purchase, contact the Stingrays by phone at 843-744-2248 or submit this form.
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